The following have been designated as CARDIAC RISK FACTORS by the American Heart Association:

Family History of Heart Disease

	Propensity for heart disease, especially heart attacks, and strokes are genetically linked.  If your parents, or grandparents, have a history of these then you are at a higher risk than the average person to also experience them.
	Race can also play a role in heart disease, as black men are more prone to high blood pressure than white men, and are therefore more prone to heart disease.

	The plaque which accumulates on the walls of the arteries requires cholesterol as a building block.  The accepted range of normals for total cholesterol is less than 200.  It has been proposed that a total cholesterol reading of under 140 is necessary in order to reduce the plaque which has already accumulated.
	It is, unfortunately, not unusual for persons with normal cholesterol levels to have significant atherosclerosis.   It is now thought that a more important measure of cholesterol is the patient's ratio between their total cholesterol and their HDL cholesterol.

	Being overweight is often associated with other risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle, low HDL cholesterol(the good component) and high LDL cholesterol(the bad component).
	It has been speculated that obese people are also more disposed to damage of the arterial wall linings, which encourages the plaque build-up.  The mechanism is uncertain.

	It is believed that the carcinogens in tobacco may irritate the arterial linings making them more prone to plaque build-up.
	Thirty years ago, there were more heart attacks of men in their 30's and 40's.  The reason for the reduction in recent years is deduced to be the drop in popularity of smoking.

	Although the mechanisms are debatable, there is no disputing the fact that a higher percentage of diabetics develop heart disease than do non-diabetics.
	Good control of your diabetes should also reduce your risk of heart disease.

Frequent physical stress, such as is obtained from exercise is good for the heart.  A lack of this can result in a higher risk of heart disease.

	This is a recently recognized factor which is often overlooked.  The impact of reducing this stress, after heart disease is diagnosed, can be dramatic.
	Likewise, reducing stress prior to developing heart disease can be a key to long term cardiac wellness.

	Also referred to as a silent killer, this condition can sometimes be easily controlled after diagnosis.
	Left untreated, it can result in premature heart disease.

	After menopause, women become much more likely to accumulate arterial plaque.  Reportedly, estrogen therapy can delay this process almost indefinitely.
	The trade-off with estrogen therapy is a slightly higher risk of cancer.

Four out of five deaths, after year 65, are from heart disease.